The Supreme Court struck down its landmark Roe v. Wade decision on Friday when it issued its long-awaited ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, a case concerning a Mississippi law banning abortion after 15 weeks. Members of Congress were quick to draw battle lines over the ruling, with some praising the ruling and others vowing a legislative response.
SCOTUS VOTES TO OVERTURN ROE V. WADE, PAVING WAY FOR STATE ABORTION BANS
In its suit, Mississippi directly asked the high court to reconsider its landmark rulings in both Roe and Planned Parenthood v. Casey, which legalized abortion nationwide. In its Dobbs ruling, the court found that there is no constitutional right to an abortion. The ruling makes the legality of abortion a matter for individual states, meaning abortion will be legal or illegal under state rather than federal law.
In a statement following the ruling, Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT), founder and chairman of the Senate Pro-Life Caucus, said Dobbs “ends a historic injustice and rightfully ends one of the world’s most horrific abortion policies.”
“The long-overdue demise of judicially imposed abortion on demand gives bright new hope to unborn children and their moms across America,” Daines said. “Now, the American people begin a new chapter in which they, through their elected representatives at the state and federal level, have the power to end the violence of abortion. I will not rest until the day that every child is protected under our laws and can enjoy our nation’s most sacred right — the right to life.”
Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney (D-NY), the head of the House Democratic campaign arm, called the decision “appalling” on Twitter.
Today’s appalling decision to strike down #RoeVWade means women in America will have fewer rights than their mothers had. Republicans & their activist judges want to take our nation backwards and rip away reproductive freedoms. @HouseDemocrats will keep fighting to protect them.
— Sean Patrick Maloney (@RepSeanMaloney) June 24, 2022
“Republicans & their activist judges want to take our nation backwards and rip away reproductive freedoms. [House Democrats] will keep fighting to protect them,” he wrote.
Sen. Ben Sasse (R-NE), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee and a vocal abortion opponent, said in a statement that with the ruling, “the pro-life movement’s work has just begun.”
“America’s work of becoming a more perfect Union is never over, but today – by righting a Constitutional wrong – the Supreme Court took a historic step forward,” Sasse said. “Roe’s days are over, but the pro-life movement’s work has just begun.”
“This issue will now be debated in the 50 states, and a 330,000,000-person, continental nation will work through this debate in a way that’s healthier than Roe’s one-size-fits-all, Washington-centrism,” he continued. “The pro-life movement is pro-baby, pro-mom, and pro-science. This cause is rooted in love and now is the time to show it. We can’t call this legal victory the end, because our movement has never been primarily about lawsuits and laws – it’s about love and compassion. So let’s celebrate today’s victory and get to work. Let’s support and love all pregnant women. Let’s come alongside them and give the support they need. Let’s support babies regardless of the situations they face and build communities around them that will love and cherish them.”
Sasse argued that on a separate note it is cause for celebration “that our institutions held,” a reference to a leak of a draft decision in the case that sparked protests at justices’ homes and the arrest of a man who told law enforcement he planned to assassinate Justice Brett Kavanaugh.
“In spite of the doxxing of their homes, violent threats and intimidation, and even a plot to assassinate Justice Kavanaugh, the Court held strong,” Sasse said. “There is no room for political violence in America – none. Mob violence is un-American, period. President Biden needs to personally and forcefully condemn violence and threats against Supreme Court justices. Our institutions still work. Let’s keep faith in them.”
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi blasted the ruling as the product of a “Republican-controlled Supreme Court,” arguing that the court has “achieved the GOP’s dark and extreme goal of ripping away women’s right to make their own reproductive health decisions.”
“Because of Donald Trump, Mitch McConnell, the Republican Party and their supermajority on the Supreme Court, American women today have less freedom than their mothers,” Pelosi said. “With Roe now out of their way, radical Republicans are charging ahead with their crusade to criminalize health freedom.”
Pelosi said congressional Republicans “are plotting a nationwide abortion ban” she argued could give way to arresting “doctors for offering reproductive care and women for terminating a pregnancy.”
“GOP extremists are even threatening to criminalize contraception, as well as in-vitro fertilization and post-miscarriage care,” she said. “A woman’s fundamental health decisions are her own to make, in consultation with her doctor and her loved ones – not to be dictated by far-right politicians. While Republicans seek to punish and control women, Democrats will keep fighting ferociously to enshrine Roe v. Wade into law.”
Pelosi argued the ruling would have implications for the November elections.
“This cruel ruling is outrageous and heart-wrenching,” she said. “But make no mistake: the rights of women and all Americans are on the ballot this November.”
In a joint statement, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (CA), House Republican Whip Steve Scalise (LA), and House Republican Conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik (NY) said, “Every unborn child is precious, extraordinary, and worthy of protection. We applaud this historic ruling, which will save countless innocent lives.”
“The Supreme Court is right to return the power to protect the unborn to the people’s elected representatives in Congress and the states. In the days and weeks following this decision, we must work to continue to reject extreme policies that seek to allow late-term abortions and taxpayer dollars to fund these elective procedures,” the House Republican leaders said. “The people’s representatives must defend the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness for every American — born and unborn. As we celebrate today’s decision, we recognize the decades of advocacy from the pro-life movement and we acknowledge much work remains to protect the most vulnerable among us.”
Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY) wrote on Twitter, “The Supreme Court has held that women in 2022 should have less liberty and privacy and equality — less control over their own bodies — than they did in 2021. A dangerous and disgraceful decision that will turn back the clock a half a century.”
The Supreme Court has held that women in 2022 should have less liberty and privacy and equality—less control over their own bodies—than they did in 2021.
A dangerous and disgraceful decision that will turn back the clock a half a century. https://t.co/kVopdTDfCx
— Ritchie Torres (@RitchieTorres) June 24, 2022
But Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS), who represents the state behind the Dobbs case, said in a statement that “Roe v. Wade has been a terrible stain on our nation for too long.”
“I am grateful to God for His divine guidance in the Supreme Court’s decision on Dobbs,” Hyde-Smith said. “By effectively overturning Roe v. Wade, the United States will step away from the notion that aborting a baby must be allowed on-demand and up until the birth. Today, the Dobbs decision stands as an affirmation that states can take actions to protect both the preborn and their mothers.”
Hyde-Smith said that the decision “does not outlaw abortion, as some pro-abortionists contend.”
“But it is a significant departure from Roe in that the people, through their elected leaders, will guide how each state approaches abortion, rather than a nationwide policy set by unelected judges,” she said. “As we move forward as a nation, I believe greater attention should be paid to the needs of pregnant women and their babies. I am so very proud that Mississippi has had a leading role in overturning Roe v. Wade, and I will continue to pray for God’s guidance over the Supreme Court and all policymakers who will now take up the abortion issue across the country.”
Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA), whose father, Gov. Robert Casey, was a notable anti-abortion Democrat and the namesake behind Planned Parenthood v. Casey, the 1992 Supreme Court decision that the court overturned, said in a statement the Dobbs ruling “upends almost a half-century of legal precedent and rips away a constitutional right that generations of women have known their entire lives.”
“This dangerous ruling won’t end abortions in this country, but it will put women’s lives at risk,” Casey said. “And make no mistake — this is not the end goal, it’s just the beginning. Republicans in Congress want to pass federal legislation to completely ban abortion. Our daughters and granddaughters should not grow up with fewer rights than their mothers.”
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Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) unveiled Friday legislation he said would support new mothers and babies to correspond with the decision. He said in a statement that the court’s ruling “to allow states to regulate abortion was right constitutionally and morally.”
“For nearly half a century, a nation founded on God-given rights denied those rights to its most vulnerable citizens and more than 63 million Americans never got the chance to pursue their dreams,” Rubio said. “But we must not only continue to take steps to protect the unborn, we must also do more to support mothers and their babies. I will soon introduce a bill to ensure we do everything we can to give every child the opportunity to fully access the promise of America.”
